How I Healed My ADHD Brain Without Medication

10.11.25

This is everything I’ve learned after a decade of controlling my ADHD brain, and perhaps, how you can do the same.

This is the first time I talk about this publicly, so let’s begin with some context.

When I was younger, I dealt with a lot of ADHD symptoms:

• My mind was constantly scattered, and my emotions were all over the place. I didn’t know how to stay calm.
• I couldn’t focus and read 2 pages of a book before getting lost in daydreaming.
• I didn’t have a clear notion of the passage of time and had zero organizational skills, leading to constant procrastination.
• I was restless, constantly fidgeting and bouncing from project to project, leaving them incomplete.
• I could focus for a few hours on highly engaging tasks until burnout, but never on the things that HAD to be done.
• I had paralyzing high levels of perfectionism, and the slightest criticism made me go on a shame spiral.

The default mode of my brain was daydreaming, and I had no idea how to stop. I couldn’t remember the names of people I saw every single day!

Eventually, I knew something wasn’t right, and I learned about ADHD and possible treatments. But when I was told I’d need medication for the rest of my life, I had a reality check.

I decided that I’d try absolutely everything I could first before resorting to any kind of pill.

This is not me shaming people on medication, as I completely understand its function and how it can be necessary.

This was just my approach.

From the start, I knew I’d have to radically change my habits if I wanted a better quality of life, and if I ended up needing medication, it’d be the cherry on top.

So I started experimenting with several practices, and after a decade, I learned what worked for me.

These are the most important ones:

• I meditate and pray every single morning.
• I track my calories, focus on protein, and don’t buy junk food.
• I drink 1-2 glasses of wine twice per month. I can be more loose on vacations but I frequently have dry months.
• I go to the gym 4x per week and walk at least 8k steps per day (I dropped 25 kgs).
• I prioritize my sleep and limit my caffeine intake to 15 grams in the morning.
• I play guitar for emotional regulation and prioritize creativity.
• Most importantly, I focus on accessing the Flow State as often as possible since it reshapes your brain network.

Whenever I deviate too much from my routine and can’t get into Flow, I start to feel anxious, low mood, and my mind gets all scattered again.

When I started studying psychology, I also learned that there’s a huge overlap between ADHD and CPTSD, so looking for a Jungian Therapist was also very healing.

Specifically learning how to practice Active Imagination and dream analysis allowed me to have an objective view of my psychic dynamics and correct them in real time.

Now, this is also a part of my daily practices.

In the last decade of controlling all of these symptoms, I’ve learned many invaluable lessons, but the one that stands out the most is how our attitude toward our reality can either make or break us.

Your Attitude Frees You

Objectively speaking, it’s harder for me to keep my mind sane than it is for a lot of “regular” people.

While others can be more flexible and careless about many things, I have to be disciplined, otherwise, I always pay the price.

It’s also true that many people have it much worse than I do.

But regardless, for the longest time, I thought this was unfair, and this would only make me feel inferior, powerless, and depressed.

It was only when I fully accepted my reality and stopped looking for someone to blame that I began experiencing immense freedom and joy in my seemingly boring and strict routine.

Not only that, I finally stopped feeling like a hostage of my own mind.

When we’re dealing with hardships, it’s always tempting to use them as a crutch, as an excuse, or even as a manipulation tool.

That’s what someone identified with the Puer Aeternus (aka the man/ woman-child) tends to do.

The Puer chooses comfortable illusions to avoid hard work and allows labels of ineptitude to define who they are.

But as Carl Jung says, staying with the truth is the first step to healing neurosis.

To overcome our challenges, we must first accept our realities and take full responsibility.

Even if it’s objectively harder for you.

That’s how we can make the best of our circumstances, overcome our challenges, and perhaps, even find freedom and joy like I did.

• Read Next: Flow State – The Next Evolution in Trauma Healing

Rafael Krüger – Live an Audacious Life

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